Kailua acreage sold for condo redevelopment

D.R. Horton -- Schuler Division has purchased 6.5 acres on Kailua Road from Kaneohe Ranch Co.'s Castle Family LLC subsidiary to build low-rise, fee-simple condominiums.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed. About 200 low-rise apartment units built in the 1950s occupy the land, located across from Kailua District Park. They are slated for redevelopment by Schuler in conjunction with community renewal plans completed by Kaneohe Ranch.

"It carries out the community renewal strategy that came out of our community (planning) process; it's consistent with the pedestrian plan that also came out of that process; and the new owner/developer, its senior officers are Kailua residents," said Mitch D'Olier, president and chief executive of Kaneohe Ranch.

The property has large-capacity cesspools that must be closed by a previous decree from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Part of this whole thing was driven by the need to do the cleanup and infrastructure work," D'Olier said.

People living in the apartments now will be allowed to remain until their leases expire, but all will be required to vacate the property by September 2007.

"When the leases expire, at that point we're going to take the buildings down," said Mike Jones, president of the Schuler Division.

The area has a height limit of 40 feet, or four stories, but Jones said plans call for "probably some type of single-story units." Schuler hopes to begin construction in the first half of 2008, but it will be contingent upon sewer installation.

"We're hoping and believing that when the right thing is done, the city will work in cooperation (with Schuler) in terms of getting sewer service, which absolutely needs to happen," D'Olier said.

Kaneohe Ranch had considered the possibility of redeveloping the parcel itself, but after reviewing options from different developers, "this was the one that made the most sense to us and Horton/Schuler," D'Olier said.